A rare night alone

It's funny the things you value as a parent that you took for granted before kids. Solitude, for example. I would have described myself as a social person before I had kids. I loved being around others, loved spending time with friends, enjoyed work and school interactions, the whole gamut. Now? While I still enjoy all those things, what I almost physically crave at times is solitude. It is a rare treat, so highly valued. And not just solitude, but solitude where I'm genuinely not needed by anyone for anything. When I'm overwhelmed and need a break, Bill is always good to take over and let me disappear for a bit. That is wonderful, but there's still a bit of me that feels like I'm shirking my responsibilities when I do that, albeit only a bit because if I need that break then it's better for all of us if I take it.

But tonight? Tonight is rare. Tonight I'm shirking nothing. Tonight Bill is still at work and the kids are all asleep, and the house is clean enough for my tastes, and it's only 9:30PM. I can do whatever I want. I can revel in the few minutes of time to just do nothing. I can write on my blog, and play the piano, and do some online window shopping, and finish the book club book that we already met about but I liked enough to finish, and whatever else suits my fancy. Here's to doing a whole lot of nothing that is so very rejuvinating at the same time.

Ice storm

I never knew what sleet really meant and why people didn't like it until I moved to South Carolina. In Colorado sleet meant rain that was turning to snow so it was all slushy. It was definitely not a big deal. We did have hail there, which could be a big deal, but I never experienced that beyond small hail. Anyway, here sleet is really freezing rain, where it's below freezing but still raining and it freezes on contact with your car. It's quite trippy to drive in. That's really not the right word. It can be totally terrifying and I got out of it as quickly as I could Monday when it hit us. Well, after I made a couple stops at stores, but hey, when you go to the effort of getting all three kids in the car, sometimes you have to take advantage of that and just go for it. We got home safely afterward and tucked in for the next day and a half and watched the craziness ensue. Apparently friends of ours saw three accidents, including a rollover, right on the main road by where we live just half an hour after I got home, so I guess we dodged a bullet there.

Thankfully our electricity only flickered but didn't go out all the way. Not everyone here was so lucky, but we were super blessed. Yesterday we went outside and played in it. The kids loved it. Genevieve couldn't stop eating it. They both explored all over our yard. Aaron was in his barbaloot suit, and really, how could he not be happy in that cozy thing? :)  It was a good time. Today we're back to the normal grind, but it was a fun little break for us in the middle of the week.

Checking out the "snow" for the first time.

An iced over tree in our yard.

Icicles on the carport.

The fence was iced too.

Love the plants outlined in ice.

Got her stick, she's good.

And he's good too with his stick too.

Oh, that little tongue of his. Why are babies so cute?!?!

It kind of blows me away how small the surface can be and still be encased in ice.

And hey, here's a picture of our house for those friends who have never been here. That's everyone that doesn't currently live in South Carolina. :)

New running buddy

Okay, maybe not always, but today I found myself a new running buddy of the four year-old variety. Spencer came on his very first real run with me! It was awesome. He's been asking for days and days, but it's hard to get the timing worked out to take him. It's hard enough to fit in me going alone, but both of us going is even more of a trick. However, the stars aligned this afternoon as Bill was home for a bit and Spence and I headed out.

We ran .78 miles all together and he ran the whole way and insisted on holding my hand and chattered about everything from mailboxes he saw to the colors of cars to there being no dogs around to how fast we were running. It was awesome. My mother heart sang. He had such a great time and I did too and hopefully we'll be able to do it again soon. My kids are starting to like things I like. It's a little bit of heaven!

A week filled with blessings

This last week has been really strange, but at the same time very filled with blessings and reminders that the Lord is watching out for us even in the little things. These last few months have been financially taxing on us. I work less over the holidays and we of course have lots of holidays and birthdays and anniversary to celebrate. We moved in January. Basically it all adds up to having less money floating around than I'm comfortable with. So at the beginning of last week when the washing machine seemingly stopped working, it was a huge deal. We traded our two year-old set to our friends when we moved into this house because ours didn't fit here and theirs did and their new place had room for ours. It was a good switch, but the machines they left were way older, though seemingly in perfect working order.

Between Bill and me, we can generally fix most things in our house. We're pretty good at DIYing or finding help if we have questions. So we diagnosed the problem, got the part, and waited a few days for it to arrive, all while being unable to wash anything, which is kind of a huge deal with three kids four and under. But we survived with some help from friends doing a few loads for us. Then last Friday afternoon I got the part and installed it only to find that it didn't fix the problem. The other thing it could have been was too much money to be worth it, so we were left scrambling to get a new washer immediately.

Saturday we planned to go buy one, maybe used, but likely new because there weren't good used options for  front loaders available. That put the price point significantly higher than we could afford, but we didn't really have much of a choice. I asked a friend to watch the older kids and she said sure but they were going to get a swingset from a friend so she'd just take my kids along. Without a second thought I offered us to help them do that and then take our kids. So we headed over to help. Turns out it wasn't a swing set but instead one of those wooden forts, so it was a pretty involved process to take it apart. It took several hours, but we had a great time with our friends taking it apart while our kids played together. When we were about done I started chatting with the other friend we were getting the fort from. Her family is moving out of state in a few months and turns out they had things they were planning to get rid of.

So in what could only be described as a sweet blessing from heaven, because there's no way coincidence could cover this, we walked away with a significantly newer washer/dryer set for a price we could afford, one of those sewing cabinets with a weighted table, two bikes, and a bookshelf perfect for toys in the kids' room.

Bill and I were totally blown away. It all came because I offered to help a friend. It made me really grateful for parents, leaders, life experiences such that I enjoy lending a helping hand and it doesn't seem like an inconvenience. I felt very grateful for that this weekend.

I thought the story would end there, but there's actually more. We picked up the washer/dryer Monday and brought it home to install. Our nice neighbor helped us get it in the house and installed, which was quite the trick since the location for this set is obviously retrofitted and only just big enough. We had it all set up and turned the power on only to have it not start. Oh no! It was an utterly deflating moment. I did some acrobatics climbing over the machine to get behind it in this tight, three-walled space it sits in, and discovered that in fact the wall outlet had gone bad somehow. The thought had never crossed my mind to test that. The dryer worked fine, so we just assumed it was a washer issue and went with it. Turns out our old washer still works just fine and the next morning our landlord was there and figured out the problem, a loose screw in the breaker box, and it was fixed.

All I can say is I am so grateful we didn't purchase a new washer, that we went to help our friends and got the amazing deal on their set. So now we have a significantly newer washer/dryer that fits a few needs that the older one didn't do so well, and the old set that we can sell to hopefully cover the cost. So yesterday I put it up on Craigslist and surprise of surprises got a bite on it almost immediately from a person willing to pay extra to ensure she could get it and pick it up in a few days. So that is still in process, but it will cover the cost of the new set we got as well as leave some extra leftover for whatever else we need. Holy blessings! I can't help but feel like the Lord was enjoying sending down these many, many blessings on us. It was a convoluted week but we walked away with so much more after what ended up being a much more minor trial than it at first seemed. I feel very blessed right now.

Aaron is 7 months

Time is a 'flyin. I can't believe I just wrote that title to this post. Aaron is growing so fast. I've heard it said that the days are long but the years short. I completely agree. Before I know it months have gone by in this little guy's life.

Aaron is at both an incredibly awesome and totally drive me crazy stage of babyhood. He rolls all over the place and gets himself stuck all the time, but he hasn't quite figured out how to scoot or crawl yet. In fact he isn't quite sitting yet either. He does a really awesome balance for a few seconds until something distracts him and then over he goes! Since we have all wood floors, I'm chomping at the bit a little to get him moving independently in a way that doesn't involve him bonking his head. He seems less motivated to do that then his older two siblings were by now. Maybe because they'll happily come to him to play.

Spencer and Aaron have a particularly fabulous relationship. They love each other so much. Spencer can make Aaron laugh and laugh and laugh. He'll spend more time playing with Aaron than doing anything else. It's pretty fantastic.

Aaron loves to grab anything he can get a hold of. He's delighted beyond reason when he happens to grab my hair.

I've never seen a child of mine take to eating as well as Aaron. He loves everything and anything that he can eat. He's surprisingly quick to learn how to eat too, especially since he doesn't even have a single tooth. That's part of the drive me crazy stage he's in. He has these stretches nearly every day where he's just so sad and crying because he's obviously in pain, but the actual teeth are coming in really slow. Sometimes he struggles to nurse because of it, and I just am sad for him.

Aside from those patches Aaron is the sunniest, happiest little baby. He has the best smile. He lights up and squeals in delight whenever he sees people he likes. It's fantastic. He still goes to anyone who wants to hold him. He has no concept of stranger danger. It definitely could develop still, but for now he just loves everyone equally.

People always say that they don't know what they would do without a particular child. I feel a bit the same. Our three kids are pretty close together, so it's been quite the whirlwind the last four years. I've almost forgotten what it was like to have just one or just two. It just seems normal to have all three and have their cute little personalities mixing together. Aaron definitely makes everyone happier.

Photo Dump

I take photos almost exclusively on my phone these days. I love the moments I can capture. Here's some from the last few weeks.

Aaron looks rather nonplussed, but I was super excited for his first time sitting up on his own in a shopping buggy.

Aaron just loves hanging out with his older siblings these days.

On one hand they each look so unique, but when I look at this picture I just think they're like little carbon copies of each other, just a little bit different color each. I'm biased, but I think they're the cutest kids around.

These two are such good buddies. Spencer can get the best laughs out of Aaron, and they just love each other to pieces.

Genevieve has taken to getting up in the 5AM hour most days. It's not pleasant. But afternoon naps where she crawls up on my chest and falls asleep? This from a girl who can't sit still for more than two seconds in a row? Those I'll take any day.

Spencer poured his own honey for his bread. 

He was quite pleased with himself. I'm just pleased he's gotten to a stage where he'll get his own food, vast quantities of honey or not. This is kind of a big deal for him. I don't talk about his food struggles on here much anymore, but suffice it to say he still has a hard time and making his own food is a huge win.

Aaron for the picture win!

Bill and I were comparing cute pictures of our kids on our phones to each other last night and I was struck by how very many pictures there are of Genevieve surrounded by piles of food. That girl. She is a tornado. She loves her some dry pasta though. And I think this is her favorite seat in the house, pulled up into the pantry ready to pilfer.

Why yes I have six rolls down my side. This squishy boy of mine loves to eat more than anything else and I love watching him. He is such a delight.

Emo Genevieve.

Walked in to see this the other day. Such an acrobat.

My fireman prince! Two costumes on top of each other in this one.

Spencer told me he made a fort for Aaron. Aaron was pleased.

The kids wanted to go see the train that runs near our house, so I squished them in the jogging trailer and headed out. It was awesome. Pushing 90 lbs' worth of kids is a good workout by the way.

Hiking

I created my annual photo book a few weeks ago for 2014. As I perused it when it arrived I realized we went on exactly three hikes the entirety of 2014. That's got to be an all decade low. Granted, I spent half the year so, so, so heavily pregnant and the other half with a tiny baby, so this isn't a surprise or a problem, but this year seems like it will be much better for hiking.

A couple days ago we tested out that hypothesis by taking the kids on a little hike just over by Bill's work. It was only about a mile-long hike, and for the first time we had both Spencer and Genevieve walk the whole way. I feel like this last year they have grown so much and gotten so independent and capable, particularly Spencer. Genevieve is doing her level best to keep up with him. She loves to be able to do everything he does. The hike was beautiful. We hiked down to the lake and threw rocks in the water for a while before heading back to get some ice cream. They loved it and were great little troopers. It really frees up our ability to do things with both of them being capable of walking more distance.

Here's a few pictures from the trip. It was a lovely day.

This kid was SO happy to be out hiking. He ran pretty much the entire way, grinning from ear to ear. 

I have like 25 pictures from the hike and exactly two of myself. At least this is a good one. :)

He has the biggest smile. It brightens my day every single time.